Desk tray set



,Sept 17, 1929- F. Le. s'rRAuBl-:L' V I 1,728,638

lDESK 'TRAY SET Fixegct; 12. '192a A z'sneets-sneet- 1- leeg( Sept. l7, 1929. FQ G. STRAUBEL 1,723,638

DESK TRAY SET Filled oct. 12, 1928 z sheets-sheer 2 Heder-fair Qfl'rdug/ Patented Sept. l?, 1929 me .ai

i orFiCE CNSIN nner: TRAY sur Applicationled y{lctober 12, 192i?.` Serial No. 311,985.

My invention relates to so-called desk tray sets which consist a plurality ot .superposed trays each adapted to receive letters or the like, and a rigid structure for supporting all ot the trays. Such desk tray sets now on tbe'niarlret are commonly constructed oit wood,wliich is objectionable both on account of the tire rislr and because oli the frequent warping' or splitting oi' the m wood, unless imdesirably thick and bulky constituent parts are= employed. liloreover,` the number ot trays desired in such a set lier use at diiierentrdesks will vary*q so that lboth the:manufacturer and his distributors 1r, ,must carry a stock of dilferent sizes (as tor example, two-tray5 three-tray and teun tray sets) in order to meet the demands of customers promptly. And when a user has bought a set ot a ,given height, lie cannot so readily increase the height of the stack by adding one or more trays.

My present invention aims to overcome all ot these objections by providing an easily n'ianuilactured and assembled metal desk tray fr set construction Iwhich will permit both the manufacturer andhis distributors to assemble the needed sets itrom a relatively small stock of parts, and which will secure rigidity in each assembled rack while employyi ingr tow fastening elements. t`urthermore,

my invention provides an assei'nblag'e `for these purposes which will readily lend itself to the providing of an assortment of color schemes in the desk sets from a small num- 33 ber ot stock parts, and which will permit the user to expand the size oit his tray sets by purchasing' relatively few additional parts.

Still lrnther and also more detailed objects 4o will appear from the following specification andtrom the accompanyinfg:` drawings, in which I y l i Fi l is a persiffective view ot a three-tray desk set enibodying my inventioin withv the 4-5 lowest drawer omitted. y

Fin: 2 isran enlarged and fragmentary vertical and transverse section, taken along` the line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Fig'. 3 is a perspective spread-apart view 50 showing` the base frame with its two runways and its vertical gmideways,y the top tray withthe vertical guide ways carried byf,

it, and the intermediate two the vertical guide ways carried by each. y

Fig. l isa fragmentary and enlarged pl an view of one ot the intermediate members. showninFigQ m e Fig. 5 a similarly .enlargedfront elevation of the. same intermediate member;

` llig. G is an renlarged elevation of one of the 'tour connecting,members used 'in `assembling the parts shownfinV Fig. 8, taken from the inner Jrace of this member and with the medial portion brokenaway.' E

F 7 is an enlargedhorizontalsection, taken along the line7-7 of Figi.

ln vaccomplishing the purposes ing' drawings, I `employ a base `member (shown in Figi l and at the bottom ofFig. 3)" including,"l a rectangular trame l supporting tworopposed, horizontal and angle- Isectioned runways '2, which runways are vspaced so aste support and laterally guide the lowest removable drawer. Fastened to the opposite sides of the frame lfadjacent to each end thereof,y and desirably also fastened to the adjacent vertical webs of the runways, are 'vertical and effectively tubular zQuideways. tach vlof `these guideways can be rformed econoinicallyby recurvinof two edges of a sheet/metal strip toward eacli other to form 'ledges BA'spaeed horizontally :trom the back 3 of the ystrip,fthis strip back being then welded both tothe adjacent side face ot the frame l and to the riser web of the adjacent guideway 2. i The upper portion of my desk` tray set includes two horizontal runways having outer vertical Abacks 4 spaced similarly (transversely of the set) to the riser .webs of the lowest runways 2, and likewise having their bottom webs directed toward each other. These bottom webs may servevmerely as guides for slidably supporting the uppermost tray 5,`but since the top tray is ordi# narily open to the user, I preferably weld" the bottom of this tray 5 to the said bottom `webs 4A. Iyalso desirably turn the upper edges of the vertical backs 4 ofthese upper r linways with f of kmy in-k M ven-tion after the manner of the accompanyrunways inwardly to form upper webs 4B which reach to the sides of the uppermost tray to exclude dirt from the interior or these upper runways. Fastened to each ot these upper runways and depending trom them are two upper guideways 8 corresponding in spacing and horizontal section to those at the corresponding side of the base section and projecting downwardly beyond the runway for a distance'somewhat greater than the height of lthe drawer which is to be' below the uppermost drawer.

For each needed intermediate drawer G I provide two counterpart intermediate members. Each ot these consists ot an anglesectioned runway (comprising a horizontal web T and a riser web T), and two vertical guideways 9 each fastened to the outer tace ot' this riser web 7A and extending' downwardly beyond the horizontal web 7 adjacent to one end of the runway. Each oic these intern'iediate vertical guideways corresponds in horizontal section to the guideways tastened to the base frame and also to those fastened to the uppermost runways, and for drawers of uniform height the intermediate guideways may be identical in height with the uppermost guideways 8 as shown in the drawings, where Veach intermediate guideway has a back 8 and Vtwo ledges SA recurved outwardly toward each other.

YWith the vertical guideways on the base section, the intermediate runways and the uppermost runways similarly formed and similarly spaced longitudinally of the structure at each side ot thelatter, the super posed guideways will Laline vertically when the three sections are set upon one another. Then l slide through each superposed group of guideways ,trom the upper end of this group a connecting member which has at its main portion a strip 9 slidably itting the bore of these guideways, and which may have' its horizontally medial `portion bowed outwardly (asshown in Fig. 7) to bring the outer face ot this portion substantially Hush with the outer 'ta-ees ot the recurved ledges on the guideways.

Each such connecting member desirably corresponds in length approximately to the joint height of the superposed guideways, so that it will extend 'for the full height ot the latter. Each connecting member also has an inwardly bent upper end 9A adapted to overhang and seat on both theupper end of the back 8 of the uppermost guideway and the upper ledge 4B ot the uppermost runway, therebypreventing the connecting member trom sliding down beyond the lowermost guideway and possibly scratching a desk in ease the assembled tray set is slid about on the desk. l

lVith each connecting member snugly litting the gui'deways, friction 4alone would hold it in its socketed position after it has been inserted. However, l preferably lock it positively in place to make the structure more rigid.k For this purpose, l weld a` nut l0 to the inner face of each connector member 9 near. thelower end of the latter, space being provided for such a nut by the above described outward bowing of this member. Screws 1l extend outwardly through the adjacent portions ol2 the base l and are screwed respectiyely into these nuts, each desirably with a lock washer l2 under the head of the screw, to anchor each connecting member to the base frame.

llifhen the parts are thus assembled, the tour connecting members not only hold the superposed vertical guideways in rigid alinenientand hence space the intermediate guideways properly, but also anchor the superposed sections of my rack-like structure firmly to one another. Hence the assembled structure rorins a rigid unit which will not be distorted in shape even when roughly handled and hence will always permit a ready sliding ot the movable intermediate drawer or drawers 6 and of the bottom drawer i3. ln practice, I desirably augment this rigidity by making the base frame oi?` ay channel-shaped cross-section with upper and inwardly direct-ed ledges 1A to which 'the bottom web of the lowest runways 2 are welded, and with relatively wide bottom ledges 1B forming the bottom of the base trame. l also desirably cement disks 14 ot telt or the like to the lower faces of these bottom ledges near the: corners ot the base frame, so as to raise t-he frame slightly above the desk on which it is set.

inee any desired number of pairs of the intermediate members can be interposed above one another between the base section and the top section, l can readily erect desk tray sets for any desired number ot' drawers by employing connecting members of varying lengths corresponding to the desired number ot drawers.` rIhe erecting merely comprises the superposing ot parts as pictured in Fig, the slidable inserting ot the connecting members, and the latching ot these connecting members by the screws which are easily inserted when the otherwise assembled structure is inverted. This can all be done easily and quickly even by an inexperienced person or one who is not a mechanic, so that my invention en ables a dealer to assemble sets of different heights according to the demands, and also permits the manufacturer to supply calls for sets of diii'erent heights according to the demands, and also permits the manu- Jfacturer to sup-ply calls tor set-s o'tvdiii'erent heights from a relatively small stock ot parts. n

lVhat is more, the base sections, drawers, connecting members and intermediate sections may each be finished in different colors ci i) i parts,

and can then be assembled either to provide a uniform color or finish for .the entire sets, or to afford sets inwhich certain parts of a set ditl'er in color or iinish from other This further' increases thevariety of sets which can bey assembled from a comparatively small stock of parts.

lWhat is more, apurchaser of one'oi' my desk tray set-s who wishes to increase it in height can readily do so by merely buying a corresponding number of additional drawers, pairs of intermediate frame members, and correspondingly longer connecting 1nembers; so that my invention permits the users to expand their equipment economically.

Since all parts of my illustrated embodiment (except the ,tour screws) can easily and cheaply be manufactured of sheet steel, my desk sets also are low in cost, while the use of metal meets the growing demand for reproo't oiiice equipment.

However, while l have illustrated and described my invention in an embodiment including `desirable details of construction and arrangement, I do not wish to be limited to these, since many changes might be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

l claim as my invention:

l. A desk tray set comprising a base section, a tray slidably supported by it, one or more intermediate sections superposed on the base section and a tray slidably supported by each thereof, and a top section including' a stationary tray; vertical groups oi guideways disposed adjacent to each end ot' the desk set and each comprising alined guideways respectively forming rigid parts ot the said sections; and four connecting members slidably inserted respectively in the said alined guideways.

Q. A desk tray set as per claim l, in which each connecting member is interlocked at its upper end with the top section and se cured to the base section.

3. A desk tray set as per claim 1, in which each section above .the base section includes two laterally spaced runways for conjointly sup-porting a tray, and two longitud inally spaced guideways depending from and extending upwardly along the outer face of each runway.

d. A desk tray set as per claim l, in which the top section comprises a tray, two horizontal frame members extending respectively at opposite sides of the tray and secured to the latter and rtwo guideways secured to and depending from each trame member and spaced longitudinally of the latter.

5. A desk tray set comprising a plurality ot superposed trame sections each adapted to support a tray, upright connecting members each slidably insertible from the top in the superpose-d frame sections and hookingly engaging the uppermost framesection, and locking membersreleasably coni necting members respectively with the lowe'rmost rtrame section. n

6. yA desk tray set comprising a base having vertical guideways at each corner; an yupper tray having at its corners vertical guideways alining with the guideways of the base and depending 'from the tray; an intermediate frame section comprising two frame members each comprising a horizontal runway and two vertical guideways depend ing respectively from the ends ot the runway and alining vertically with the guideways at one side ot the base and ofthe upper tray; and four connecting members each extending through the alined guideways of the base, upper tray `and one intermediate section; and counterpart trays sli dably supported by the runways ofthe intermediate section and the base section.y

7. A desk tray set as per claim G, in which the alined guideways 'at each corner abut vertically against one another.

8. A desk tray set as per claimG, in which each of the guideways yoit the 'intermediate section correspond in height tothe height required tor one of the said slidably supported sections. f f

9. A desk tray set as per claim 6, in which each connecting member is slidablyinsertible from the top in the alined guideways at one corner of the desk tray; in combination with means associated with each connectingmember for limiting downward movement oit the said member with respect to the upper tray `and for limiting upward movement of the `said member with respect tothe base.

10. A desk tray set consisting of a base section, a top section, and at least one intermediate irame section; the base section comprising a rectangular iframe equippedwith laterally opposed horizontal guideways and having at each side two 'vertical channels; the top section comprising a tray and two pairs of depending vertical channels; the

intermediate frame section comprising tvo horizontal guideways each having a pair of vertical channels depending from it; the two channels on each 'side of each section being of counterpart cross-sections and spacing; andconnecting memherseach extending through one channel in each of the three sectionsand interlock/ed with the base and top sections for clamping the intermediate section therebetween.

11, A desk tray set as per claim l0, in which each connecting member hookingly overhangs the top of the channel on thc'top section through which the said member eX- tends, in combination with screws each extending through the base member into one ot the connecting members for releasably securing the connecting members to the base y member. l c

12. In a desk tray set, the combination with an upper section and a base section each carrying two lateral pairs or' vertical channels disposed so that the channels on the rupper section aline vertically with those on the base section, an intermediate section comprising two runways each carrying two vertical channels spaced to aline with the pair of channels at one side of the base, four connecting members each slidably inserted from the top in one group of the alined channels on the aforesaid three sections and each over-hanging a. portion of the upper section to limit the downward movement of the connecting member, and securing means for latching each connecting member to the base section.

13. A desk tray set as per claim 12, in which the Vbase section consists of a generally horizontal frame7 and in which the securing` means comprise screws extending from the interior of the trame through a. portion of the frame and each threaded with one of the connecting members.

14. A desk tray setas per claim 12, in which the channels open laterally outward and in which each runway consists of an angle-sectioned strip comprising al horizontal web extending laterally inward of the desk tray set and a. vertical web having its outer face secured iiatwise to the backs of two of the channels.

15. ln a desk tray set, a base section compirsing a rectangular frame of inwardly open channel-shaped cross-section, two angle-sectioned runways respectively secured to the tops of two opposite sides of the frame, andfour vertical guideways each adjacent to one corner of the frame and each secured both to one of the said frame sides and to the r-unway carried by that traine side.

16. A base section for an expansible desk tray set; comprising a rectangular frame consisting ot two side members and two end members; two angle-sectioned runways respectively surmounting the two side members of the frame, each runway' comprising a horizontal bottom web secured to the top f of the adjacent side member and a Vertical web having its outer face substantially flush with the outer face of the adjacent side mem er; and two pairs of vertical channels7 the channels forming each pair being secured to the outer face of one ot the saidV side members andalso to the outer face of the vertical web of the runway which has its bottom secured to that side member.

17. A desk tray set comprising superposed trays; a corresponding number of superposed pairs oic runways, each pair of runways being laterally spaced for slidably supporting the lower lateral edge portions of a tray; four vertical channels respectively adjacent to the ends of the runways and each depending from the outer face of one of the runways, the channels on each runway being spaced for alining vertically with those on the nextV higher runway; four connecting members respectively extending through the vertically'alined channels on the superposed runways for holding the superposed channels in alinement, and means for interlocking each connecting member with the uppermost and the lowest channel through which it extends.

Signed at Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 9th, 192s.

FREDERICK L. G. STRAUBEL.

Cil 

